Nokia Lumia 630 review

The Nokia Lumia 630 may not be the top-end Windows Phone 8.1 flagship handset everyone expected, but thanks to its quad-core performance, decent display and affordable price it does a decent job showcasing the OS' upgraded productivity and security services.

This, combined with the Lumia 630's £100 price tag, means that on paper the handset could be one of the best choices for companies looking for an affordable smartphone for a mass rollout.

However, with Motorola having already targeted the same market with its 2013 Moto G and 2014 Moto E Android handsets, it's clear that the Lumia 630 already has some stiff and slightly more established competition.

Design and buildThe Nokia Lumia 630 features a similar, albeit slightly boxier, design to its predecessor, the Lumia 620. The brightly coloured handset features a polycarbonate, hard edge removable chassis, with rounded corners and flat back and side faces.

The polycarbonate used in the Lumia 630's interchangeable covers doesn't feel anywhere near as top-end or robust as that seen in higher end Lumia phones, but we are fans of the design.

As well as granting access to the phone's removable battery, micro-Sim and microSD card slots, the fact that the covers are interchangeable means you can customise the phone's appearance and replace the chassis if it is damaged.

We also found that, despite the Lumia 630's hard edges, the phone was fairly comfortable to hold. This is largely down to the 130x67x9.2mm measurements and reasonable 134g weight. The measurements mean the Lumia 630 hits the same size sweet spot as devices like the Moto G, and is large enough to function as a smartphone without being too big for small-handed users.

DisplayScreen technology has generally been an area in which budget smartphones have compromised, with most sub-£100 handsets featuring blurry pixelated displays that severely hamper the user experience.

The Lumia 630 display is far from perfect, even when compared with its key competitor the Moto G, which features a 4.5in 1280x720, 329ppi display, but it is still significantly better than all other similarly priced handsets we've experienced.

The Lumia 630's 4.5in, 854x480, 218ppi IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, while a little hazier-looking than we'd like, in general is very good considering the phone's price. Colours and icons are vibrant and text displayed on the screen was always readable.

This is in part because the Lumia 630 features Nokia's custom ClearBlack display technology. ClearBlack helps ensure that the display remains rich and sharp by producing deep blacks that make primary colours and text pop out.